Mahogany Meditation Shrine
Friends of ours in Baltimore contacted us about the possibility of building a meditation shrine for them. They didn't have a detailed idea of what they were looking for, but they knew they wanted something about 2.5 feet tall with a cabinet underneath the top of the shrine and a shelf in the middle.
An email conversation began, as so often does with our custom orders, and the shrine on the left is the result. The shrine is 30 inches tall, 36 inches wide, and 10 inches deep. The body is made of Forest Stewardship Council-certified mahogany, the door handles are made of wenge. Roy carved the Tibetan characters Ki and So (seed syllables in the Shambhala tradition) in the center of each door panel. The entire piece is finished with water-based polyurethane.
The Tibetan figure Ki handcarved into the left door panel above. Ki refers to "primordial energy," similar to the idea of ch’i or qi in Chinese culture.
The Tibetan figure So carved into the right door panel above dispels negative energy, calls on positive energy, and invites harmony. As we understand it, in the Shambhala warrior's cry, "Ki ki so so," So extends the energy of Ki and increases the power of the cry.